Portraying...

Model: Myself

Month: January

MU&W: Myself

Portraiture. People have different interpretations about what it is or what it should be about.

My definition takes the a word out of portraiture...portrai....portray. I believe it should portray the person, their personality and who they are (if it is a portrait that is).

I'm redoing my AS unit (because they didn't mark mine and someone making a complete and utter mess of it) on portraiture & am exploring self-portraits. Looking at Cindy Sherman's work may seem a bit off the train of thought...and you're right, as in her untitled film stills, she isn't portraying herself, just different cliches of women.

Putting my own spin on things, I decided to create a little photo series showing different persona that I can be if I want to, but combining a few in one photo. The light trails are relevant as they are "shining light" of the different moods and personalities I can be, kind of exposing them to the viewer if you like.

Was a bit tricky working in pitch black but was fun :) The light trails were simply caused by the light of my phone. The only other light source was my flash gun...and its batteries have run out now grr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethalicebarker/

Steven Meisel.

Month: January 2010

Models: Robyn & Sian

MU&W: Myself

This shoot was done nearly a year ago (woahh). In the style of an editorial Steven Meisel did for Vogue Italia, but no where near as good...the amount of time, money and effort gone into that shoot he did; well I can only imagine. Here's the link for some shots from his editorial... http://trendland.net/2008/12/23/vogue-patterns-by-steven-meisel/

A lot of people think that photography is a "doss" subject...which I guess it can be if you want it to be. But if you actually use it in such a way it produces work that actually has a meaning and a plot, then it can so much more.

Another thing I don't think people realise are the skills you acquire from it. Analysing, interpretating, evaluating and thinking of ways things can be improved are all skills. When I look at a photo shoot or an editorial, I don't just think "oh that looks nice" or "that's a good photo", I think what is the photographer or artistic director trying to show us? What is the theme? It's just like a fashion line...like Alexander McQueen's fashion line that was influenced by/his view on Darwin's theory of evolution and the origin of species. He didn't just create something weird because he felt like it.

So. Looking at Meisel's editorial, I came to the conclusion that from my point of view, that all the models had been done up with make-up etc so much, they resembled dolls in a way. Their poses (that look as if they have been moved at the joint by someone, just like they would with a doll) facial expressions, and almost artificial appearance combined with the endless concoction of patterns and images provided me with this conclusion.

I wanted to create my own take on Meisel's editorial, keeping the aim of the shoot as "producing images that resemble human dolls with set colour schemes with varying patterns". The top photo is one of my favourites from the shoot, as the immaculate make-up, porcelain like skin and glassy eyes that look alive...yet at the same time dead as they are not focusing on anything, all produce what I feel is a human doll. (I have this shot printed off about A2 size and love it).

Here are some more shots...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethalicebarker/4291675328/in/set-72157623251272230/

Empty.

Month: September

Models: Robyn & Sian

MU&W: Myself

This shoot wasn't necessarily in the style of a photographer. It was more to show feelings, emotions and concepts related to my unit 3 work.

In my unit 3 project, I will explore society's perception of people with mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia, split personality disorder and milder ones such as mild paranoia and depression.

I arrived at that conclusion from my original starting point; looking at conspiracy theories such as the Illuminati and their influence upon our world as we know it. If you can be bothered to take time to read up on this, I suggest this website: http://vigilantcitizen.com/

If you haven't read it...then this might not make much sense, so apologies.

I planned to do a shoot which would symbolise initiation, and then another shoot that would show the model after initiation; and how they are in limbo about who they really are, and that they don't really know what to believe.

White = before initiation, innocence and purity.

Red = after initiation/initiation (hence the rose petals (sorry next door neighbours...I may have raided your roses...)

The top image was created by using a long exposure, and shows "two versions" of the same person. They are frustrated and don't know who they really are, or what they've been made to believe. Here are some more images from the shoot...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethalicebarker/sets/72157625445423588/

The Beach.

Month - November.

Model - Robyn.

MU&W - Myself.

Shooting in the style of Silja Magg (http://www.siljamagg.com/portfolio/#!/portfolio/).

For my unit 3; my own project (yet to decide on a final title...but I'll get there)

When looking at her work, there always seems to be a sense of beauty combined with an equal amount of something haunting and eerie, yet I cannot place my finger on it.

I wanted to create a rough plot in my mind of the character I wanted to portray, someone who was vulnerable, lost, yet seems to fit into her surroundings perfectly, as if it were her home; no matter how contrasting it may seem.

In a natural setting, with dismal and dramatic weather, combined with a model (willing to brave the November weather) wearing an elegant but simple dress, I felt that the setting was pretty perfect to my standards. Here are some more shots...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethalicebarker/